Melony awoke to a rough shake, causing her to fall from her chair. A growl was heard and she was helped up. Stretching, Melony checked her watch. Trying to refrain from uttering profanity, she quickly attempted to tame the tangles in her hair and put on some clothes. Only the first day on the job and already she was late. Rushing out of the room, she had forgotten all about Four Claw. However, he did not follow. He was interested in this place, and intended to look about. He saw Mae'lon'ee had not unpacked her bags, as they still lay zippered on the floor. He was quite sure he already knew their contents, and did not wish to make the human angry if he made a mess of her belongings. Besides, there were other things to do. But what? For once in his life he actually felt bored. Normally he was just like every other hunter, always ready for action. But there was none here. Looking around the room, he saw a picture standing on the dresser. It was the same one that he had seen in Mae'lon'ee's tent. The one of the human male, Jawn. Her mate, he surmised. Four Claw examined the picture. Of course, humans were never attractive, but some were not so revolting as the rest. Mae'lon'ee was one. And her mate another. The human's tresses were tawny, like his mate's, but cut short. His skin was dark, his eyes blue. No, he was not such an ugly human. He could see why Mae'lon'ee had chosen him as a mate. Yet she seemed so sad to think of her mate, water came to her eyes. A puzzlement. And perhaps he would never know. For he and Mae'lon'ee were of two different worlds, and always would be. So why have I become her ally? How can I possibly Hunt when an ooman stands by my side? Placing the picture back where it was, Four Claw sat upon the bed for a moment. Never had he thought for so long and so deeply. But maybe change was good. Had he not said to Mae'lon'ee he wanted to learn? As a human hunter knows the ways of his prey, knowing its every trait and antic, so would Four Claw. He would learn what he could about the humans, learn their ways. When he returned, surely then Mae'lon'ee would not remember him and he could Hunt without anything slowing him down. Yet this saddened him in a way. He had grown attached to the human, as a child grows attached to his pet. The thought of not seeing the human again was a confusing one. But it could not be; for she was a human. And he...he was a beast...

"It's about time you got here," commented Millings.

"Sorry..." Melony grumbled, not having any insults to shoot back.

"Well, let's go. We need to investigae these poaching incidents before no one cares anymore."

Millings lead Haan and Melony further into the jungle, walking the path she had taken just a day before with Four Claw. When they climbed down the ravine, passing the pool, she shuddered a bit. That had not been a pleasant time. Past the ravine now, Millings stopped treking and began to search among the foliage.

"Come over here!" he shouted, beckoning the two over to a spot. Melony nearly wretched when she saw what it was. It was a corpse, skinned, infested with flies. Its head was deformed, and where its spine should have been there was an empty strip. Holding her breath, Melony spoke.

"What is it?"

"A jaguar, I think," answered Millings.

"Yah, is big spotty cat," Haan agreed, getting closer to the carcass.

"But...who could have done this?" Melony asked, trying to keep down the contents of her stomach.

"I haven't a clue. The thing is skinned, like it normally would be, but its skull and spine are gone. And look," Millings pointed, "it has a hole the size of my fist through it."

Melony had a rather bad memory come to her. The jaguar...could it be?

"Well, I don't even know why we're here. I mean, how can we track a poacher through all this?" Melony gestured toward the thick mass of trees. Millings shrugged and Haan was too engrossed in the dead cat to listen. Suddenly remembering Four Claw, Melony shuddered to think what he might be doing...

Despite his logic, Four Claw listened to his temptations and ransacked Mae'lon'ee's bags. Inside one he had found a stacks of pictures, held together by a bit of metal. These pictures were of other humans, none of the ones in Mae'lon'ee's pictures. Writing was also within these stacks, but he could not decifer much of it. Ones that showed up a lot in these were such like "beauty", "fashion", and "love". He hadn't the vaguest idea what "fashion" was, but beauty and love he could grasp. Humans obviously had different standards of beauty. As for love...he was not sure. From what he could tell, it was a strong feeling between mates. In some of the pictures he had seen females embracing males, holding each other tightly. And they seemed happy. But why had Mae'lon'ee seemed so distraught when she saw the picture of her mate? Why was she not happy? This question started to irritate Four Claw, and he put the pictures back into their bag. Seeing Mae'lon'ee unhappy somehow dampened his mood as well. What was wrong with him? Confused and annoyed he lay down on the bed, waiting for Mae'lon'ee.

Melony opened the door to her hotel room and found Four Claw sitting on her bed patiently.

"I need to sleep there, you know."

But he merely purred and cocked his head. It was starting to annoy her, his constant gesture of curiousity.

"Move, I want to lie down." She tried to shoo him away from the bed but with no prevail. Giving up, she climbed onto the bed and curled up at the head. Four Claw turned around so he was facing her and purred again.

"Jawn," he growled softly. Melony sat up slowly, her eyes beginning to tear. She was in total shock when Four Claw drew near, arms locked around her and drawing her near. Sobbing softly, she rested her head on his arm. Never would she had thought to be recieving comfort from a demon, and yet she had been proved wrong. If only it could have been so when John said we were going to crash...

Aaw, how cute. I think Four Claw likes her. Anyhow...more to come.